Today we welcomed elementary students and teachers from Ruth King School and David Cameron School. The students, ages eight through ten, came to release their classroom-raised Chum salmon fry in a fresh water pond at Hole 15 on the Resort’s Valley Course as part of the Stream to Sea education program sponsored by Fisheries and Oceans Canada.

"Stream to Sea is an education outreach program that truly unites communities behind salmon enhancement in the Capital Regional District," explained Don Lowen, Fisheries and Ocean’s Canada coordinator of Sea to Stream. "This year, 102 classrooms participated in this unique classroom incubation program thanks to the Goldstream Volunteer Salmonid Enhancement Association (GVSEA) that provided 19,000 "eyed" salmon eggs for classroom incubators." The Goldstream Volunteer Salmonid Enhancement Association is involved in salmonid enhancement, education, and maintaining and improving where possible the number of Coho, Chum and Chinook salmon available in the waters off the south-easterly tip of Vancouver Island for the sports fishery, the native food fishery, and local commercial and charter operations.

Darren Burns, Golf Course Superintendent at Bear Mountain Resort who championed the inclusion of fish ladders into the design of the golf course, is extremely proud of the vibrant salmon nurseries located on the Valley and Mountain Courses. "This nursery in Osborne Pond will provide greater population stability improving the chances of survival for these juvenile Chum."

Osborne Pond represents approximately 34-million gallons of fresh water habitat – ideal conditions for juvenile salmon. "Last year we took responsibility for 10,000 "parr" – young healthy Coho that are now embarking upon their journey from the pond through the fish ladder and into Millstream Creek – just as they should. We at Bear Mountain Resort are very proud to welcome the grades 3, 4 and 5 students and to play an important role in supporting their commitment to ensuring a healthy population of Chum salmon in Southern Vancouver Island."